Jazz Articles about Wadada Leo Smith

like 426

Wadada Leo Smith: Snakish

by Rex Butters
November 17, 2005

Of all the avant-garde players from his generation, Wadada Leo Smith easily ranks among the most insightful collaborators with electronic musicians. His willingness to include electrified lexicon in his musical language now yields Snakish, a surprising soundscape created with a band culled from the Cal/Arts faculty, including guitarist Miroslav Tadic and electrician Walter Quintus, as well as vocliast Katya Quintus and Mark Nauseef on percussion and electronics. The guitar, trumpet, and percussion juxtapose the electronic environments to create rainbows of ...

like 209

Wadada Leo Smith: Lake Biwa

by Rex Butters
August 10, 2005

Lake Biwa presents Wadada Leo Smith's Silver Orchestra in four pieces that showcase the composer's startling originality and lofty inspiration. Peopled by some of New York's finest, including Anthony Coleman, Susie Ibarra, Marc Ribot, Craig Taborn, and John Zorn, the Orchestra moves through Smith's bright landscapes with grace and color, the soloists outright shredding when the occasion calls for it. Their skillful readings highlight the shimmering subtlety and abiding spirituality of the music.

Cello, piano, guitar, bass, and ...

like 172

Wadada Leo Smith/Susie Ibarra/John Zorn: 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 8

by Rex Butters
April 24, 2005

More live recordings from the Month of Zorn, a run of concerts celebrating the iconoclastic altoist's 50th birthday, this one encoding two very different sets. The first series features duets with percussion dakini Susie Ibarra. Ibarra abandons the more measured performances of recent Tzadik CDs and returns to the firestorm approach from her days with the David S. Ware Quartet. While the Wadada Leo Smith duets cool out Zorn with no loss of daring, they seem to invigorate Smith. Only ...

like 391

A Fireside Chat with Wadada Leo Smith

by AAJ Staff
September 20, 2004

I am reminded daily that perfection is an endless pursuit and that those who are in the arena often go unnoticed and unrewarded. But it is because of their artistic valor that creativity remains. Their innovative spirit keeps us from the abyss and for that we are beholden to them.

All About Jazz: What disciplines did you attain from your association with the AACM?

Wadada Leo Smith: One of the most important ones if that you really shape your own ...

like 368

Wadada Leo Smith: Kabell Years 1971-1979

by Rex Butters
June 11, 2004

Wadada Leo Smith Kabell Years 1971-1979 Tzadik 2004

John Zorn's Tzadik label continues to honor the genius of Wadada Leo Smith, this time with a crucial collection of material he recorded and released himself on his Kabell label in the seventies. This four-CD box set gathers Creative Music 1, Reflectativity, Song of Humanity, and Ahkreanvention, plus over two hours of unreleased material.

Creative Music 1 features Smith solo. Like his ...

like 234

Wadada Leo Smith: Kabell Years 1971-1979

by Rex Butters
June 8, 2004

John Zorn's Tzadik label continues to honor the genius of Wadada Leo Smith, this time with a crucial collection of material he recorded and released himself on his Kabell label in the seventies. This four-CD box set gathers Creative Music 1, Reflectativity, Song of Humanity, and Ahkreanvention, plus over two hours of unreleased material.

Creative Music 1 features Smith solo. Like his brother AACM members in the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Smith fills the performance frame with remarkably ...

like 413

A Fireside Chat With Wadada Leo Smith

by AAJ Staff
November 29, 2003

Free jazz denotes an idiom and has little to do with freedom. John Litweiler’s The Freedom Principle chronicles how Leo Smith, born in Leland, Mississippi, a hub for the blues, entered into the service (outspoken of racial conditions in the army), discovered Don Cherry, moved to Chicago, joined the AACM, and developed into a standard for lyrical contrasts and space. And although the word “jazz” has not aged well, perhaps there is hope in the masters like Smith (unedited and ...